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No more clutch! 2002 R1150RTP

Pulled into my garage after the commute home, and as I'm walking the bike around the garage, it becomes apparent my clutch won't engage. There is almost no resistance at the clutch lever. As I was trying to get the clutch to engage, a small amount of dirty black fluid began dripping from the bottom of the back of the engine case. The photos show the quantity and qualities of the fluid, and the area from where it dripped for a couple of minutes. It stopped dripping as quickly as it began. I feel blessed that this happened in my garage, and not half-way between work and home, out on the interstate! I'm also blessed to have a 2nd bike, so 'Helga' can sit around while I figure out what's wrong with her.

She has 81,000 miles on it, but only 5,000 miles since a new clutch and a new clutch input shaft just about a year ago. What the heck is going on?

The clutch slave cylinder is toast; a common Oil head issue. If the fluid has not made it on to your clutch plate it is a simple replacement of the slave and a re-bleed and you are good to go. Slave is a $100+, could be as much as $150, I forget, try beemer boneyard first.

This is where the fluid is. Here I have removed the cylinder on my RT and you can see the clutch fluid, it should not be there. I was not lucky, my clutch plate was fouled so I had to also do a clutch job. On my GS, when my slave went it did not take my clutch, it just did it 1,000 miles from home. When my S slave started going I replaced it quick. As I said....common problem

The clutch slave cylinder is toast; a common Oil head issue. If the fluid has not made it on to your clutch plate it is a simple replacement of the slave and a re-bleed and you are good to go. Slave is a $100+, could be as much as $150, I forget, try beemer boneyard first.

This is where the fluid is. Here I have removed the cylinder on my RT and you can see the clutch fluid, it should not be there. I was not lucky, my clutch plate was fouled so I had to also do a clutch job. On my GS, when my slave went it did not take my clutch, it just did it 1,000 miles from home. When my S slave started going I replaced it quick. As I said....common problem

With a ball end allen wrench you can do it with just removing wheel. It's a tight fit, but doable. I use a ball end L allen wrench and a combo of swivels on a 3/8 drive socket. There is a bar in the way across the transmission housing, but patience will prevail.

A good indicator the slave is going south is the DOT4 in the master cylinder is dark or looks like chocolate milk.I change the fluid yearly in both brake and clutch systems on the 1150 series and the 1100S.

Have also gotten folks down the road by changing fluid sometimes...sometimes it works for another day to get home....sometimes it's blown and needs attention before wiping out the clutch disc.

Steve Henson
SABMWRA MOA Club#62's Flat Fixer/ current forum moderator
It's not the breaths you take, but the moments that take your breath away-D.Dillon/G. Strait

allens

You have to clean out and flush clean fluid through the master cylinder before replacing the slave cylinder to get all that junk out of the hydraulic line .
The hardest part of removing the s/c is the two allens holding the hydraulic lines to the top of the s/c. There isn't enough room above the s/c to get a normal size allen onto those banjo bolts with the s/c in position, and if you loosen the s/c first and twist it slightly, you can get your wrench onto the banjos, but you can't get enough torque on the banjos to loosen them. If you sacrifice an allen wrench by cutting the short arm verrryy short, you can get the allen on top of the s/c while it is still mounted to the back of the transmission to get the lines loose. The cut down allens will save you about 19 dozen hours of grunting, swearing, twisting, and tool throwing, and cuts the replacement time by about 50 percent.
You still have to have a ball end allen to loosen the s/c from the back of the transmission because you can't get a straight-in approach to the bolts.

Did you notice at some point in the recent past that your clutch lever engagement point seemed to move closer to the hand grip? That's a sure sign that your bearing cage has failed and you are well on your way to a slave cylinder failure.

10-4 on the cut-down allens for the banjo bolts. last year i did a "preventive" and replaced the s/c after i saw the BLACK fluid in the res.
Main Seal was okay although i replaced that one during the spline lube a few months later.

Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch
Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote